Sat.Dec 14, 2024 - Fri.Dec 20, 2024

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Broadening the Scope of Climate Policy

Legal Planet

This is the sixth in a series of posts. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here. The fifth post is here. The political dynamics of decarbonization that Ive sketched out are very specific to time, space, and economic sector. The policy approaches that may work to advance decarbonization in the electricity sector will not be identical to the ones that may work to advance decarbonization in the transportation sector, or the agricultural secto

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In a Major Reversal, the World Bank Is Backing Mega Dams

Yale E360

Despite continued opposition, the World Bank has approved the first of five big dam projects expected to get its support in the coming months. Climate change has upped the need for renewable energy, but the environmental and social costs of building such massive projects remain.

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The Sunbelt’s Growing Population Faces Increasing Climate Hazards

Inside Climate News

New research identified the counties in the U.S. with large and vulnerable populations exposed to heat stress, water shortages or wildfire, with most found in the southern half of the country. By Wyatt Myskow Counties across the southern half of the U.S., especially those with large and socially vulnerable populations, will be much more exposed to wildfire, drought and extreme heat than other parts of the country as the regions climate warms in the coming decades, according to new research from

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2024 Year in Review: Key Wins, Challenges, and What’s Next for Sustainable Agriculture

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)

The NSAC staff retreat in West Virginia Theres no such thing as a quiet year when it comes to federal food and farm policy, and 2024 proved to be no exception! As the year comes to a close, we are reflecting on the progress we have made toward building a more resilient and equitable farm and food system. Amidst endless delays in Congress, a noisy election cycle, and major natural disasters that affected farmers nationwide, NSAC continued to do what we do best: advocate for better federal food an

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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What Is A “Sustainable Battery”?

Legal Planet

As the market for the electric buses, cars, trucks, and trains that help curb the climate crisis continues to grow globally, the battery supply chain faces increased scrutiny. Minerals like lithium, nickel, graphite, and cobalt are too often mined and processed in ways that contribute to harming communities and ecosystems, while the batteries often face wasteful end-of-life disposal.

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Jan. 22 Webinar: How Invasive Plants Drive An Insect Invasion, Penn State Extension

PA Environment Daily

The Penn State Extension will host a January 22 webinar on How Invasive Plants Drive An Insect Invasion from 8:00 to 9:15 a.m. The recent spread of invasive insects like the spotted lanternfly has underscored the interconnected threats posed by invasive plants and insects, both of which can significantly harm ecosystems. Andrew Liebhold will delve into the complex relationship between these invasive species and discuss the critical role of reducing plant invasions to preserve forest health.

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Important Thai Ethnobotany Collection Revived by ANS and Penn Museum Partnership

Academy of Natural Sciences

Written by Louis Andracchio Delicate fronds of a water hornfern reach out to the edges of the archival paper. A dark cluster of ginger flowers float silently between two green blades of leaves. A golden bunch of rice stalks fan out as if caught in a breeze. Safely kept through decades of storage in the Penn Museum basement labs, an important ethnobotanical collection has finally been brought back to life at the Academy.

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The Risks of Deep-Sea Mining

Ocean Conservancy

Critical minerals are key components of clean-energy technologies, which are essential to replacing fossil fuels and stabilizing the climate. At present, the United States is highly dependent on critical minerals to support a growing electric vehicle market. Yet, the United States is also vulnerable to growing geopolitical realities and supply-chain bottlenecks.

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Larkspur Design To Offer Yearlong Permaculture Design Certification Course In Pittsburgh

PA Environment Daily

Larkspur Design will be offering a yearlong Permaculture Design Course , endorsed by the Permaculture Institute of North America during 2025. Earn your Permaculture Design Certificate while you learn to garden like the forest, ecological restoration, water harvesting, natural building, and much more. Participants will meet monthly, build community, and work toward our final design projects.

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Evicted to Save a Gorilla, Indigenous Batwa Posed No Threat, Study Finds

Yale E360

For decades, Congolese officials have barred the Batwa from their ancestral lands in the name of preserving the critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla. But a new study suggests the Batwa were never a threat to the creatures.

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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Revealing the hidden lives of non-breeding Black-tailed Godwits

The Applied Ecologist

In this blog post, Taylor Craft discusses the use of GPS tracking and satellite imagery to uncover the lives of Black-tailed Godwits in the Senegal Delta. You can read their latest study, published alongside co-authors, here. A pressing challenge The landscapes of the endangered continental Black-tailed Godwit face increasing pressures at nearly every key site along their migratory route.

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Making Ornaments From Ocean Plastic in Alaska

Ocean Conservancy

This year, the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree traveled for more than three weeks across 4,000 miles from the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska for display on the Capitols West Lawn in Washington D.C. The 80-foot Sitka spruce, nicknamed Spruce Wayne, was handpicked from the small community of Wrangell, located 120 miles from where I live in Sitka.

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PA Resources Council Announces Winners Of 2024 Gene Capaldi Lens On Litter Photo Contest

PA Environment Daily

On December 18, the PA Resources Council announced the student and adult winners of the 2024 Gene Capaldi Lens On Litter Photo Contest. Student Winners In the student category, the winner of the $500 first place prize is Delores Simpson of Glenville, York County, a 13-yr. old 8th grade student at Emory H. Markle Middle School in Hanover. Deloress photo titled Beauty in Chaos pictures a flower growing up through a pile of debris.

2024 97
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Carnivorous Squirrels Discovered in California

Yale E360

Scientists have discovered that in addition to seeds and nuts, some California ground squirrels also eat voles.

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

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Bird Flu Has Spread Out of Control after Mistakes by U.S. Government and Industry

Scientific American

As the bird flu virus moved into cows and people, sluggish federal action, deference to industry and neglect for worker safety put the country at risk

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Quantum teleportation can survive through busy internet cables

New Scientist

An experiment showing that quantum and classical communication can be carried out through the same fibre at the same time may open the door to building a quantum internet with existing infrastructure

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PA Natural Heritage Program Newsletter Highlights Monitoring The Upper Middle Allegheny River; Weasel Survey; Monitoring Vernal Pools; Invasive Jumping Worms; Mussel Restoration

PA Environment Daily

The fall newsletter of the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program features an article on the decades-long effort to monitor the biodiversity of the Upper Middle Allegheny River. Other articles include-- -- Surveys For Weasels In Western PA -- Bountiful Bryophytes -- Return To The Coastal Plain Oldenlandia -- Invasive Jumping Worms -- Rediscovery Of A Tick-Trefoil -- Species Associated Other Old Growth -- Assessing The Forrest H.

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After Long Decline, Malaria Cases Rising Amid Worsening Floods

Yale E360

Malaria killed almost 600,000 people in 2023, as cases rose for the fifth consecutive year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization.

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

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The Perfect Beer Glass Shape, according to Math

Scientific American

A mathematician has calculated the ideal shape for a beer glass to keep the liquid inside as cool as possible

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Stonehenge may have been built to unify people of ancient Britain

New Scientist

Recent findings show that Stonehenges stones came from all over Britain and this offers clues to the monuments purpose, say archaeologists

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Federal Ohio River Protection Act Legislation Would Address Pressing Water Quality, Conservation Needs In Ohio River Watershed

PA Environment Daily

On December 17, Congressman Morgan McGarvey (D-Kentucky) and Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-Indiana), co-chairs of the Ohio River Basin Caucus, introduced the Ohio River Restoration Program Act , the first comprehensive piece of legislation to address the pressing environmental and conservation needs within the 204,000 square miles of the Ohio River Basin.

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Explainer: Why is soil health being degraded worldwide?

A Greener Life

Image generated by AI. By Anders Lorenzen The impacts of climate change, such as droughts, intensive and large-scale industrial farming , land degradation, chemical overuse and surging demand for meat to be farmed are combined reasons for the declining health and quality of the soil the world over. If serious and urgent action is not taken, it will speed up desertification and the worlds agricultural land’s ability to produce the level of food it is today.

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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Our Bodies Are So Ready to Celebrate the Rebirth of the Sun

Scientific American

The winter solstice is the culmination of a period every year when each cell in our body literally craves more light

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Our writers pick the 26 best science fiction short stories of all time

New Scientist

We asked New Scientist writers to pick their favourite sci-fi short story. From H.G. Wellss The Time Machine to Octavia E. Butlers Bloodchild, via stories from George R. R. Martin and Ursula K.

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DEP Posted 63 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In December 21 PA Bulletin

PA Environment Daily

Highlights of the environmental and energy notices in the December 21 PA Bulletin -- -- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - December 21 [PaEN] -- DEP published notice in the December 21 PA Bulletin of the 2025 meeting schedules for most of its advisory committees, Boards and Councils. Click Here on DEPs new website for committee and board webpages.

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Smart Surfaces Policy Tracker: A New Resource For Cities

Law Columbia

Photo by Mark Patterson on Unsplash Cities have a unique and significant role to play in responding to climate change. Many are already doing so by adopting legal and policy tools to encourage the use of smart surfacesa group of technologies and design strategies that mitigate the effects of climate change in urban environments, especially extreme heat, stormwater flooding, and poor air quality.

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If Planet Nine Exists, We’ll Find It Soon

Scientific American

If there’s a hidden world in the solar system, a new telescope should find it

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AI beats human experts at distinguishing American whiskey from Scotch

New Scientist

Using descriptions of flavours or chemical data, artificial intelligence can tell apart whiskies from different countries and identify their constituent aromas

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Chesapeake Bay Journal: Veteran Reporter Ad Crable Wraps Up 4 Decades Of Environmental Journalism

PA Environment Daily

By Lara Lutz, Chesapeake Bay Journal In 2019, the Chesapeake Bay Journal gained a team member in Pennsylvania. Ad Crable, well known for his work at Lancasters LNP newspaper, became our newest staff writer. He had decades of experience writing about environmental topics in the Bays upstream watersheds and authored a popular column about outdoor travel.

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Sabin Center Report Highlights Key Climate Cases and Litigation Themes in 2024

Law Columbia

Today, the Sabin Center published a report that looks back on climate litigation developments since the beginning of 2024. This second installment in our year-end series revisits significant cases and rulings from around the world and connects them to overarching themes. It also identifies key cases that we expect to influence litigation strategies and outcomes in the coming months and years.

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Mysterious Constant that Makes Mathematicians Despair

Scientific American

The proof that the Apéry constant is irrational remains one of the most bizarre events in the history of mathematics

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Swarms of tiny robots coordinate to achieve ant-like feats of strength

New Scientist

Small robots directed by magnetic fields can cooperatively lift heavy objects, form floating rafts and push through clogs.

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